Give Your Feet A Hug!
If only my hips were flexible enough, I would.
Healthy Movement For Life
by Jill Trato, DPT
The month of October was the month of the feet. Young athletes, older athletes and first time runners with foot, ankle and/or lower leg pain. All eager to learn how to get rid of it.
The mechanics of the foot and ankle are glorious, like our bodies in their entirety are. When we stride forward, landing on our heel, the foot changes shape and unlocks, allowing for shock absorption. Then, as we move forward, up and over the ball of our foot, it changes shape again, moving into a locked and stable position for push off. Supporting this dynamic process are many other tissues- plantar fascia, ligaments, tendons and muscles. And, they all like to be working within a length and tension optimal to achieve the goal of propelling our center of mass into the direction which we want to go. Disruption to this chain of events can lead to the development of pain.
To help rehab the foot and ankle, it is important to look directly at the area but………..
Remember the old song- The Skeleton Dance? It goes something like this: “The foot bone’s connected to the leg bone, the leg bone’s connected to the knee bone”, and onward up the chain. To most effectively help a person with foot pain, we must look up the chain! The mechanics at the hip, pelvis and trunk are distant but important regions which impact the static and dynamic alignment at the foot and ankle. In the clinic, we often discover impairments in areas distant to the location of a person’s pain which are seen to affect how they move at the foot and ankle.
Use the QR code and try the movements for yourself. Think about how your foot and ankle respond. Think about your overall stability- where are you rock solid and where might you need more stability? Maybe something feels stiff, preventing a motion in a joint or body region. How might this impact other areas?
“Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle dem bones, dem bones, dem dancing bones.”
It’s not just a song but a symphony!